It Happened on Maple Street
by LuckyLadybug
Summary: Post-series, my Pendulum Swings verse. Yami Bakura finds Bakura having been tricked into getting drunk at a classmate's party. To say he is angry at those responsible is an understatement.


**Yu-Gi-Oh!**

 **It Happened on Maple Street**

 **By Lucky_Ladybug**

 **Notes: The characters aren't mine and the story is! This takes place post-series, in my** _ **Pendulum Swings**_ **verse. Yami Bakura, as Thief King, survived Zorc's destruction and returned to Bakura, and was granted the Infinity Ring to give him a mortal form. Apparently he will be needed in a future fight against good and evil, and required to fight for the side of good if he wants a second chance at life. That should be interesting. . . .**

Yami Bakura grunted and growled to himself as he walked down the street. It was late, he was cranky, and Bakura wasn't home yet. Of course, Yami Bakura was cranky because Bakura wasn't home yet. He had tried calling the boy's cellphone several times with no luck, and so finally in aggravation he had set out looking.

Underneath the aggravation, he was really worried. Bakura hadn't even really wanted to go to the party at his schoolmate's house; it wasn't his thing and he had only consented because the boy's sister had begged him. Oh, it was possible that Bakura had ended up liking it when he got there, but Yami Bakura wasn't so sure that such was the explanation. Especially since he knew Bakura had gone to school parties and hadn't liked them either. Really, he only went for the food. And because, as he said, it wouldn't look proper if he didn't go.

So ridiculous, always worrying about what was proper!

A raucous giggle startled him back to the present. "Hello, Yami! Smashing night, isn't it?!"

Yami Bakura stared. He had arrived at the house, and Bakura was standing on an upstairs windowsill, gripping the wall with one hand while leaning out and flinging his other hand to the night air. That would be shocking enough, but what really set the thief in horror was that Bakura was dressed only in boxer shorts.

Completely improper in every way.

"Smashing night?!" Yami Bakura echoed. He ran over to get under the window. "You fool! _You're_ completely smashed!"

Bakura laughed, which quickly turned into a hiccup. "Oh. Am I? I thought there was something odd about those drinks they gave me. . . ."

A familiar rage began to build in Yami Bakura's heart. "They tricked you into drinking alcohol?!"

"I guess they must have," Bakura said. "Oh well." He swung his free arm wide as he rocked on the windowsill. "Look at me, Yami! I'm king of the world!"

"Idiot! Go back inside before you fall!" Yami Bakura snarled.

"I'm not worried," Bakura smiled. "After all, you're right there. You'll catch me." He swung around in a wide arc, back and forth in the window. "Wheeee! This is fun!" Back and forth, back and forth . . . until he lost his grip and tumbled out. "Look out below!"

Yami Bakura panicked. _"Bakura!"_ He was indeed right there and he rushed to catch his descendant, praying that if there was any kind of a merciful God, he would be able to. Then Bakura crashed into his arms and they fell backwards into the grass. Yami Bakura hadn't had time to switch forms and in his current one, Bakura was practically the same size and weight as he. For a moment he lay dazed, the drunk boy on top of him.

Bakura was also dazed, at least for a moment. Then he started to laugh. "That was great fun! Let's do it again!"

Yami Bakura came to life. "Let's not." He sat up, grabbing Bakura's wrist as Bakura tried to get up and make his getaway.

"Oh, Yami," Bakura mock-whined. Then, abruptly, he plopped down on Yami Bakura's outstretched legs and wrapped his arms around the thief's neck. "See? I knew you'd catch me." He slumped down, burrowing against Yami Bakura's shoulder as the alcohol finally overpowered him the rest of the way and he passed out.

Yami Bakura slowly brought his arms around the trusting boy, a low growl building in his throat. When the front door opened and several of Bakura's classmates emerged, Yami Bakura gave them a dark and murderous look.

"Hey, look at Bakura," one of them mocked. "He's found someone else to snuggle up with."

"Yeah, he really gets down when he's had a little too much," a girl laughed. "All that silly dancing he did around the living room . . ."

"And being all too agreeable to participate in our strip poker game," a second boy smirked. "After we gave him several cups of that stuff, of course."

"Sweet, proper little Bakura would never dream of doing anything like this in his right mind," a girl said with a cruel imitation of Bakura's accent.

That was the final straw. "Be quiet!" Yami Bakura roared. He got to his feet, hauling Bakura into his arms as he did. "You think what you did to him was amusing?!"

The kids all jumped.

"Hey, it was just a little fun," the first boy protested. "You know how it is. You're his older brother or his cousin or something, right? You must have done stuff like that in your day."

"Fun?!" Yami Bakura echoed. "If I hadn't come looking for him, he would have fallen out that window without someone to catch him! He might have broken his neck!" He took a threatening step forward. "And that's what should happen to all of you pathetic excuses for human beings!"

"Whoa." The second boy backed up, nervous now. "It was just a joke, really. We were right there in the hall. If he'd started to fall, we would have caught him."

It was the wrong thing to say.

"He _did_ fall and not one of you made a move to do anything!" Yami Bakura thundered. "Well, now you'll suffer for it. You'll all suffer! The only reason he came was because he was trying to be nice. He thought you really wanted him here!"

"We did," a girl stammered.

"Of course, so you could mock him and make fun of his gentle innocence," Yami Bakura snarled. "Well, I won't have it. Now you'll learn what happens when you toy with the wrong people."

The Infinity Ring started to glow. The kids stumbled back, suddenly dizzy and sick.

"H-Hey," the first boy gasped. "What did you just do to us?!"

The second guy turned away, a hand to his mouth. "I don't feel good. At all." He staggered, falling to one knee.

"You're going to experience what he's going to feel in the morning," Yami Bakura said. "But it won't stop there. You're also going to feel what he would have felt had he really fallen with no one to catch him. You're going to feel it over and over until you regret putting him into such a situation!"

The first girl stared at him before the light of the Infinity Ring hurt her in her newly hungover state and she had to look away. "You . . . you're nuts," she choked out.

"Call it what you want," Yami Bakura retorted. "I call it justice." He took a step back. "Now. I am going into the house to retrieve Bakura's clothes and then we are both leaving. And the next time any of you have the urge to do anything to Bakura, just remember this night. It's going to be the longest night any of you will ever experience."

Again the Ring flashed. This time he did change forms, and the kids gaped in disbelief at the muscular Egyptian now standing before them.

"This is a hallucination, right?" the first boy quavered.

"I don't think so," the second girl trembled. "I've seen him around before."

"But this is . . . not possible." The second guy doubled over. "Oh. . . . If Bakura's going to feel anything like this, I think I'm starting to feel sorry for him."

"Yeah," the first girl mumbled. "Me too."

Yami Bakura strode past all of them, holding Bakura firmly in his arms. It didn't take long to locate the missing clothes; they were strewn all over the living room where the strip poker game had been played. Yami Bakura laid Bakura on the couch and quickly dressed him. He wasn't going to walk all the way home with Bakura clad in only his underwear.

"These parents must be completely neglectful," he muttered, half to himself and half to Bakura, "to allow such things to be taking place right in their home."

Bakura stirred slightly. "Yami?"

Yami Bakura had just finished pulling Bakura's sweater on over his hair. "What?" he grunted.

"I don't feel so well." Bakura groaned and rolled onto his side, hugging a couch pillow. "It was all a horrible nightmare, wasn't it? Me acting like a lunatic and . . ." He shut his eyes tightly. "Taking my clothes off. . . ."

"No," Yami Bakura said. "It wasn't a nightmare."

Tears pricked the sweet eyes. "Why?" he whispered. "Why did they do this to me?"

"I don't know," Yami Bakura growled. He lifted Bakura into his arms and stood up straight. "Perhaps they hate you for your innocence. They hate that they aren't like you any more and they want to drag you down to their level." He doubted Bakura would remember this conversation when he was fully awake later, but he wanted to respond anyway.

"Is that how you felt, Yami?" Bakura asked softly. "When we first met, I mean."

Yami Bakura stiffened. "Not at all," he snapped. "I didn't understand you. I couldn't imagine how anyone could go through all the loss and the loneliness and the cruelty and still be kind and good. I thought you were a fool at first, a doormat who would always let himself get pushed around. But then I started to see that you were strong. You never stopped believing in the goodness of people, not because you were an idiot, but because you saw what others did not see."

"I . . . feel like an idiot tonight," Bakura said. His voice trembled with his pain, both physical and emotional.

Yami Bakura felt another surge of hate for the kids who were now moaning on the front lawn, all in the full throes of the most agonizing hangovers. "Don't. The ones who did this to you . . . they're the idiots."

He stepped outside, walking past them without a word. Bakura stared at them as they went by, his eyes glassy and his expression bewildered. "What . . . happened to them, Yami?" he asked.

"A little taste of karma," Yami Bakura said. "Maybe when they come back down to Earth, they'll think twice before treating you like garbage."

Bakura realized what Yami Bakura was not saying. "Oh my. . . ."

"I know you don't approve," Yami Bakura said gruffly. "But I wasn't going to let them get away with what they'd done."

Bakura managed a weak smile. "You're always here for me. I remember you catching me when I fell." He brought an arm around Yami Bakura's neck as he snuggled closer. "Thank you." Again he slipped into oblivion.

Yami Bakura held him firmly while continuing down the sidewalk. It was true; he had been around for so long, and even when he had denied the real reason, he had stood up for Bakura against bullies and other cruelty. Zorc had wanted him to just sit back and let it happen, as long as the host body wasn't seriously damaged. But he had refused. He had protected Bakura from dangers both without . . . and within. He had always put Bakura to sleep so he wouldn't see what was happening when he and Zorc took control. He hadn't wanted to spoil the boy's innocence. But Bakura had realized what was happening and fought against him, even defying him when his classmates were in danger.

Bakura had grown to believe he hated Yami Bakura, and yet, deep down he really hadn't. He had been hurt and outraged and furious, but later, when Yami Bakura had been forcefully torn from Zorc upon Zorc's destruction, Bakura had been right there, horrified and wanting to offer help. And now . . . now that Yami Bakura had a mortal form again courtesy of the Infinity Ring, things had changed so much.

At first when that had happened, they hadn't known what to make of things or what they thought of each other. They certainly hadn't considered each other friends. Bakura had been wary after the long years of possession and Yami Bakura had been much more aloof and gruff. But slowly, their defenses had worn down and they had become close in spite of themselves. Yami Bakura had realized he deeply loved the boy and would look out for him at all costs. And Bakura, who hadn't known if he could trust or even forgive back then, had come to love the old thief in turn. They had bonded as few did and it was deeply significant in light of their troubled past. Now Bakura was burrowed against Yami Bakura as though snuggled with the most trusted of protectors. He seemed so young right now, like a child trustingly embracing a father or an older sibling.

 _That is what I will always be for you now, Bakura,_ Yami Bakura said silently as he walked. _A protector . . . a friend. . . . A brother. And anyone who tries to hurt you will rue the moment the thought ever came into their pathetic little minds._


End file.
